The number of Irish candidates who have signed the Animal Welfare pledge is now at 5. All four candidates are from the Dublin constituency so my followers from that area are now spoiled for choice 😉

Paul Murphy MEP (Socialist Party):

Paul was the first Irish candidate to sign the Animal Welfare Pledge back in February. He is also strongly against the cruel “sport” of hare coursing and has been a strong voice for animal welfare throughout his time in the European Parliament.

Nessa shortly followed Paul in signing the Animal Welfare pledge. I didn’t deal directly with Nessa but her office was very quick to respond and she signed as promised within days of my request. She is also strongly opposed to Hare Coursing.

Mary Fitzpatrick showed her support for the Animal Welfare pledge earlier this week. If elected this will be her first time in European Parliament and I hope she will stay true to the pledge and give animals a voice 🙂

Eamon is the latest to sign the pledge from Ireland and given he is the current leader of the Irish Green Party , his signing came as no surprise. Eamon is strongly opposed to Fox Hunting and Hare coursing in Ireland and in 2012 he attended an anti-coursing protest outside Dublin Castle.

Damon is no stranger to the Animal Welfare scene having volunteered for Second chance Animal Rescue and was a member of Brighton Animal Rights campaign in England when at college. As soon as I had informed him of the pledge he replied promptly, with interest and has now signed and showed his support.

You can find more information about the pledge on the Vote for Animals webpage. Eurogroup have released a new feature which now makes it very easy to check out the Animal Welfare Friendly candidates in your country. Simply click on on the drop down box, choose your country and a list of candidates from that country who support Animal Welfare will appear. Check it frequently to stay up to date 🙂

It has been over 2 weeks since I started my individual campaign to get as many Irish candidates on board the “Animal Welfare pledge” laid out by the Eurogroup for animals. The response (or lack thereof) is worrying …

Still struggling on making a decision? Love animals? Want to see a Europe wide change in attitudes to Animal Welfare? Well then keep an eye on this:

So far only 2 Irish candidates have signed: Paul Murphy and Nessa Childers. Existing MEPS who are looking to get re-elected have no excuses. The Eurogroup campaign has been ongoing for several weeks now and there has been ample opportunity to sign the pledge and it has been well advertised.

I am only beginning to directly contact candidates outside my own constituency as I wanted to put the focus on my area first so I could make an informed voting decision. I have been disappointed so far. Here is a table outlining who I have contacted in the Midlands-North-West:

The Candidate:

Date of first contact:

Their response so far (up to 2nd May):

Signed:

Jim Higgins

22/04

“Thank you for contacting the office . . . . . . . We will pass on your message”.

No

Mairead McGuinness

17/04

No reply.

No

Lorraine Higgins

22/04

No reply.

No

Pat The Cope Gallagher

14/04

“Will pass on the message”

No

Thomas Byrne

22/04

No reply.

No

Mark Dearey

22/04

Apologised for the oversight, is opposed to Bloodsports, will take a look ASAP.

No

Matt Carthy

30/04

No reply.

No

Marian Harkin

17/04

No reply.

No

Rónán Mullen

29/04

No reply.

No

Mark Fitzsimmons

02/05

No reply.

No

Luke “Ming” Flanaghan

22/04 & 27/04

No reply.

No

In addition to the pledge, on a local level I have been keeping an eye on the the Ban Bloodsports. facebook page. They post candidate views on Bloodsports as they receive them and a list of politicians and information with regards to Animal Welfare and Bloodsports can be found here: Views

I will update the table in this post as and when I get responses, or when someone signs !